Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The chronicle of Cameron Slater's dispute with his insurer over an income protection claim has been widely publicised over at Whaleoil's place and at Farrar's troll farm. Apart from observing that such public discussion has likely been unhelpful in the extreme, Adolf does not intend to canvass opinions on the dispute as he is too close to both parties.

What HAS surprised me is the revelation in comments threads that a number of bloggers feel that their blogging activities have been therapeutic during their own professionally diagnosed or self perceived bouts of depression. This may well partly explain why some very good blogs fold up after a relatively short time.

IV2 told this story in some detail, as did Blair M. Good on them for being forthright. Adolf well remembers the first blog he ever read, that of one Gordon King- nzpundit, and looking back wonders if he too was using his blog as a recovery from some personal disaster. I recall him mentioning at some stage that his blog 'kept him alive during a difficult patch' or some such. As his paua forming activities took hold his blog faded.

Reading some of the symptoms of depression, Adolf would conclude that almost every person is likely at sometime in his or her life to have experienced Churchill's black dog. Just didn't know what it was. My eighty year old uncle who had an extremely successful career and stable personal life, was diagnosed at the age of 78. For two years his wife struggled before somebody woke up.

I must confess, Adolf does not perceive any such personal advantages from his puny blogging efforts. However, it is not so easy to maintain one's enthusiasm when there is no serious political contest in the offing and when the enemy is so completely in disarray.

I'm eternally grateful to my colleagues at No Minister for it is their intermittent gems which keep the place going.

8 comments:

I refrained from commenting on this matter over at kiwiblog and it wasn’t until I spotted the word therapeutic here did I decide to discuss the term depression and the road to recovery which in my case has been blogging and writing zillions of letters to Mp’s only to be fobbed off. However blogging lifts my spirit as a victim of a huge miscarriage of justice which has cost my family huge heartbreak. Not that not one of you could ever imagine my forced real nightmare. It was judicial corruption beyond belief and depression went with the forced psychotropic medication, you know the goon squad sits on you and they smash a needle into your back. Anyway not here to whine, here to support victims of depression, however $100k a year, hells bells that’s six years income for me, thanks Family Court, the low life law society and New Zealand Police! Just remember justice is coming and being a blogger who says it as it is I will exact revenge and fix my major depressive episode. The story alone is worth mega, but time will tell, I respect my four children’s right to privacy. This country owes them big time! No depression here judge dread and do nothing liar politician ‘because this blogger got a NEW attack weapon, it’s called truthful blogging. Power to the bloggers = it’s good for the soul.

dad4j - I accept that "the system" has given you a bum rap, but you're not alone in that regard. Hang in there, and you'll get your reward one way or t'other.

As far as my situation goes, as referred to by Adolf, blogging provided a form of escape, and an outlet. However, in hindsight, it's possibly not a good pursuit for one with an addictive personality. It took some time to realise just how hooked I had become, and how unproductive I was becoming in the more important areas of my life! Keeping Stock will be back at some point, but only when I can be confident that blogging is JUST an outlet, and not my raison d'etre.

There's nothing more 'productive' than the exercise of free speech and holding politician's feet to fire FFM. ;-)And blogging sure as hell beats writing letters to the editor, only to have them spiked by some lefty editorial weasel.D4J, been there, had my kids stolen and a 'justice' system utterly uninterested in righting the wrong--you're not alone. Not by a long bloody shot mate.